Top 100 Acronyms Every Developer Should Know

Every profession has its terms, jargon, and short forms that could get confusing if you’re not well versed in them, and can equally make your discussion a little lopsided since you may not flow with these terms.

Acronyms are pronounceable words formed from the first letter (or first few letters) of each word in a phrase or title. Typical example FYI - For Your Information.

Developer acronyms are not rocket science, they’re mostly a Google search away, but then, you don’t have to keep keying in terms into a search engine in the middle of a serious conversation. In this article, I’ve outlined 100 developer acronyms you should have etched somewhere at the back of your mind, but before that, why do you need to know about these acronyms?

• It takes less time to say or write the first initial of each word or an abbreviated form of the full word than to spell out every single word. So using acronyms and abbreviations in your everyday speech makes communication easier and faster.
• You don’t want to be that person who asks the meaning of every acronym in conversations and gets lost every single time. With time, some acronyms should come very easy to you and you should be able to flow with them.

Now you’ve seen why you need to know some acronyms, let’s take a look at some of them. This list is not exhaustive but will give you a headstart.

1. ES: EcmaScript is the scripting language that forms the basis of JavaScript. It is a JavaScript standard meant to ensure the interoperability of web pages across different web browsers. ECMAScript is commonly used for client-side scripting on the World Wide Web, and it is increasingly being used for writing server applications and services using Node.js.
2. IDE: An integrated development environment (IDE) is software for building applications that combines common developer tools into a single graphical user interface (GUI)
3. GUI: A Graphical user interface (GUI), a computer program that enables a person to communicate with a computer through the use of symbols, visual metaphors, and pointing devices
4. IIFE: An Immediately-invoked Function Expression (IIFE for friends) is a way to execute functions immediately, as soon as they are created. Learn more about it.
5. DOM: The Document Object Model (DOM) is an application programming interface (API) for HTML and XML documents. It defines the logical structure of documents and the way a document is accessed and manipulated.
6. JSON: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a standard text-based format for representing structured data based on JavaScript object syntax. It is commonly used for transmitting data in web applications (e.g., sending some data from the server to the client, so it can be displayed on a web page, or vice versa).
7. AJAX: Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) is a technique for creating fast and dynamic web pages. AJAX allows web pages to be updated asynchronously by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes.
8. AVI: Audio-Video Interleaf is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows software.
9. AVIF: AVI Image Format is an image file format developed by Alliance for Open Media which is supposed to make our images smaller while keeping the same image quality.
10. HTML: HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages. HTML describes the structure of a Web page. HTML consists of a series of elements. HTML elements tell the browser how to display the content.
11. XML: Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
12. SEO: SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It's the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand, through non-paid (also known as "organic") search engine results. Read More.
13. UX: User experience (UX) is the interaction and experience users have with a company's products and services.
14. JS: JavaScript is a programming language commonly used in web development. It was originally developed by Netscape as a means to add dynamic and interactive elements to websites.
15. REGEX: Regular expressions (shortened as "regex") are special strings representing a pattern to be matched in a search operation. Read more.
16. API: An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of functions that allows applications to access data and interact with external software components, operating systems, or microservices.
17. CDN: A content delivery network (CDN) refers to a geographically distributed group of servers that work together to provide fast delivery of Internet content. Learn more.
18. CMS: A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content.
19. ERP: ERP stands for "Enterprise Resource Planning" and refers to software and systems used to plan and manage all the core supply chain, manufacturing, services, financial and other processes of an organization.
20. CRUD: CRUD is simply an acronym used to refer to four basic operations that can be performed on database applications: Create, Read, Update, and Delete.
21. MVC: MVC stands for Model, View, and Controller. MVC separates an application into three components - Model, View, and Controller.
22. CLI: A command-line interface (CLI) processes commands to a computer program in the form of lines of text.
23. BASH: Bash (AKA Bourne Again Shell) is a type of interpreter that processes shell commands. A shell interpreter takes commands in plain text format and calls Operating System services to do something.
24. DRY: Don't repeat yourself (DRY, or sometimes do not repeat yourself) is a principle of software development aimed at reducing repetition of software patterns, replacing them with abstractions, or using data normalization to avoid redundancy.
25. SDK: A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package.
26. ASO: App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of improving app visibility within the app stores and increasing app conversion rates.
27. TDD: Test-driven development (TDD) is a development technique where you must first write a test that fails before you write new functional code
28. LTS: Long-term support (LTS) is a product lifecycle management policy in which a stable release of computer software is maintained for a longer period of time than the standard edition.
29. CSSOM: The CSS Object Model (CSSOM) is a map of all CSS selectors and relevant properties for each selector in the form of a tree, with a root node, sibling, descendant, child, and other relationship.
30. CTA: A call to action (CTA) is a marketing term that refers to the next step a marketer wants its audience or reader to take. The CTA can have a direct link to sales.
31. FOSS: Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software that can be classified as both free software and open-source software. That is, anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source code is openly shared so that people are encouraged to voluntarily improve the design of the software.
32. MEAN: MEAN (MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS (or Angular), and Node.js) is a free and open-source JavaScript software stack for building dynamic websites and web applications.
33. JAM STACK: JAMstack is a software architecture and philosophy that adheres to the following components: Javascript, APIs, and Markup.
34. 0AUTH: OAuth is an open-standard authorization protocol or framework that provides applications the ability to “secure designated access.” For example, you can tell Facebook that it’s OK for ESPN.com to access your profile or post updates to your timeline without having to give ESPN your Facebook password. Learn more.
35. WYSWYG: WYSWYG an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed document, web page, or slide presentation.
36. SSL: SSL Stands for secure sockets layer. It is a Protocol for web browsers and servers that allows for the authentication, encryption, and decryption of data sent over the Internet.
37. UI/UX: UX design refers to the term “user experience design”, while UI stands for “user interface design”. Both elements are crucial to a product and work closely together.
38. B2B: "B2B" means "business to business." The term encompasses all companies that create products and services geared toward other businesses. This can include SaaS products, B2B marketing firms, and overall business supply companies.
39. B2C: Business-to-consumer (B2C) refers to the process of selling products and services directly between a business and consumers who are the end-users of its products or services.
40. BLOB: A Binary Large Object (BLOB) is a collection of binary data stored as a single entity. Blobs are typically images, audio, or other multimedia objects, though sometimes binary executable code is stored as a blob.
41. DFS: A Distributed File System (DFS) as the name suggests, is a file system that is distributed on multiple file servers or multiple locations. It allows programs to access or store isolated files as they do with the local ones, allowing programmers to access files from any network or computer.
42. DBMS: A database management system (DBMS) is a software package designed to define, manipulate, retrieve and manage data in a database. Learn more.
43. HTTPS: Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, which is the primary protocol used to send data between a web browser and a website. HTTPS is encrypted in order to increase the security of data transfer.
44. HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-layer protocol for transmitting hypermedia documents, such as HTML. It was designed for communication between web browsers and web servers, but it can also be used for other purposes
45. IP: IP stands for "Internet Protocol," which is the set of rules governing the format of data sent via the internet or local network. In essence, IP addresses are the identifier that allows information to be sent between devices on a network
46. JVM: A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode.
47. JDK: The Java Development Kit is a development environment for building applications, applets, and components using the Java programming language.
48. IEEE: IEEE, pronounced "Eye-triple-E," stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. It is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity
49. LAMP: Linux Apache MySQL Perl
50. LAMP : Linux Apache MySQL PHP
51. LAMP: Linux Apache MySQL Python
52. SLOC: Source lines of code (SLOC), also known as lines of code (LOC), is a software metric used to measure the size of a computer program by counting the number of lines in the text of the program's source code.
53. OOP: Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a computer programming model that organizes software design around data, or objects, rather than functions and logic.
54. P2P: A peer-to-peer (P2P) service is a decentralized platform whereby two individuals interact directly with each other, without intermediation by a third party.
55. QoS: Quality of service (QoS) is the description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as a telephony or a computer network, or a cloud computing service, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network.
56. RAM: RAM stands for random-access memory. It is essentially short-term memory where data is stored as the processor needs it.
57. RSS: An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed is an online file that contains details about every piece of content a site has published.
58. RIP: Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a protocol used by routers to exchange routing information on a network. Its primary functions are to determine the most efficient way to route data on a network and to prevent routing loops.
59. SOAP: SOAP is an acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol. It is an XML-based messaging protocol for exchanging information among computers.
60. REST: Representational State Transfer (REST), is an architectural style for providing standards between computer systems on the web, making it easier for systems to communicate with each other.
61. SAAS: Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a cloud provider hosts applications and makes them available to end-users over the internet.
62. SPA: A single-page application (SPA) is a web application or website that interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current web page with new data from the web server, instead of the default method of a web browser loading entire new pages.
63. TCP: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a network conversation through which application programs can exchange data.
64. ALLY: Accessibility (ALLY) is the practice of making your websites usable by as many people as possible.
65. W3C: The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.
66. WORM: Write once read many (WORM) describes a data storage device in which information, once written, cannot be modified.
67. WWW: The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators (URLs, such as https://example.com/ ), which may be interlinked by hyperlinks, and are accessible over the Internet.
68. VFS: A virtual file system (VFS) or virtual filesystem switch is an abstract layer on top of a more concrete file system. The purpose of a VFS is to allow client applications to access different types of concrete file systems in a uniform way.
69. VR: Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different from the real world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (e.g. video games), education (e.g. medical or military training), and business (e.g. virtual meetings).
70. VPN: A Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection establishes a secure connection between you and the internet. Via the VPN, all your data traffic is routed through an encrypted virtual tunnel. This disguises your IP address when you use the internet, making its location invisible to everyone.
71. Var: Variables (Var) are used to store information to be referenced and manipulated in a computer program.
72. XP: XP stands for Cross-platform. It is a software (also multi-platform software or platform-independent software) is computer software that is implemented on multiple computing platforms
73. WAN: A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area for the primary purpose of computer networking.
74. SIM: A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module (SIM), widely known as a SIM card, is an integrated circuit running a card operating system (COS) that is intended to securely store the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers)
75. OTP: A one-time password (OTP), also known as a one-time PIN or dynamic password, is a password that is valid for only one login session or transaction, on a computer system or other digital device.
76. OOM: Out of memory" (OOM) is an error message seen when a computer no longer has any spare memory to allocate to programs.
77. LCD: Stands for "Liquid Crystal Display." LCD is a flat panel display technology commonly used in TVs and computer monitors. It is also used in screens for mobile devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
78. HCI: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is the study of how people interact with computers and to what extent computers are or are not developed for successful interaction with human beings.
79. GNOME: GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment, pronounced gah-NOHM) is a graphical user interface (GUI) and set of computer desktop applications for users of the Linux computer operating system.
80. CAPTCHA: CAPTCHA stands for the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. CAPTCHAs are tools you can use to differentiate between real users and automated users, such as bots. CAPTCHAs provide challenges that are difficult for computers to perform but relatively easy for humans.
81. DNS: The Domain Name System (DNS) is the phonebook of the Internet. Humans access information online through domain names, like nytimes.com or espn.com.
82. TDD: Test-driven development (TDD) is a development technique where you must first write a test that fails before you write new functional code.
83. CASE: Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) is the domain of software tools used to design and implement applications.
84. ML: Machine learning (ML) is the study of computer algorithms, that improve automatically through experience and by the use of data. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence.
85. SQL: SQL (pronounced "ess-que-el") stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is used to communicate with a database.
86. QA: Quality assurance (QA) is a way of preventing mistakes and defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering products or services to customers.
87. IaaS: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a form of cloud computing that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.
88. NLP: Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human language, in particular how to program computers to process and analyze large amounts of natural language data.
89. DMS: Data migration service is a free product offered by Google that helps you migrate email, calendar, or contact data.
90. RAD: Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a form of agile software development methodology that prioritizes rapid prototype releases and iterations.
91. DOS: A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is an attack meant to shut down a machine or network, making it inaccessible to its intended users.
92. CSS: Cascading Style Sheet is the language we use to style an HTML document. It describes how HTML elements should be displayed.
93. 404: 404 is an error message displayed when what was requested cannot be found; often because the link that was requested is either broken or dead.
94. UAT: User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is a type of testing performed by the end-user or the client to verify/accept the software system before moving the software application to the production environment. Learn more.
95. DevOps: Development Operations - System of working that helps to keep development, IT operations, and quality assurance departments on the same page to make for better end-products and collaborations.
96. FIFO: Abbreviation of First In First Out. FIFO abbreviation is used to indicate that the first item is the first item out in a queue.
97. Char: Short for Character, the abbreviation char is used as a reserved keyword in some programming languages
98. CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black. These are the four basic colors used for printing color images. Unlike RGB (red, green, blue), which is used for creating images on your computer screen.
99. DES: Data Encryption Standard is a symmetric-key algorithm for the encryption of digital data.
100. DVI: Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video display interface developed by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). The digital interface is used to connect a video source, such as a video display controller, to a display device, such as a computer monitor.
101. GUID: Globally Unique Identifier is a 128-bit integer number used to identify resources.

That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed it!